Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Review

The original Knives Out is one of my favorite movies of all time, so it’s fair to say I had ridiculously high expectations for its sequel, Glass Onion, which hit theaters on November 23rd, 2022, and left theaters on November 29th. It will release exclusively on Netflix on December 23rd, following its one week run. Does it live up to the name of the original in quality? Who from the cast of the first movie is returning? Will there be a third movie? Why did Netflix pull the movie from theaters after just a week, and what does it mean for the future of movie theaters? These are all questions which I hope to answer.

The movie stars Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, the same detective who was at the center of the original film. He is the lone returning character from the first movie, as the sequel sees Blanc tackling an entirely new mystery, with a completely new cast of characters. This new cast is composed of Janelle Monáe, Edward Norton, Dave Bautista, Leslie Odom Jr, Kathryn Hahn, Kate Hudson, and Jessica Henwick. Overall, the cast does a great job at bringing this movie to life with standout performances from Kathryn Hahn and Janelle Monáe. 

My only gripe with the acting in this movie is the continuation of this series’ insistence on giving characters an accent which is oftentimes unnecessary to the story, particularly with Janelle Monáe’s character. It’s not that these actors can’t do these accents, just that occasionally it is obvious these accents are not authentic. I don’t even think these accents should be cut from the film, just that more preparation and focus on the actors part would make them less distracting. The fact that this is my main criticism shows how high quality the performances are overall, as it is certainly a nitpick.    

I won’t get into specifics about the story for spoilers’ sake, but if you enjoyed the first movie’s plot, the second one will scratch the same itch for you. It does a good job of taking an older genre like the whodunnit, and adapting it to the modern screen, by twisting and altering the formula in a way to maximize drama and intrigue. It shares a major structural similarity with the first movie, that being telling the story out of order. The movie will purposely obscure the full picture from you, just to reveal it at the perfect moment to lead to the most possible suspense. Playing with time is a common occurrence in movies nowadays, yet few movies stick the landing as well as Glass Onion.

Cinematography and direction are two crucial elements in creating an enjoyable movie watching experience. Glass Onion is extremely well shot and directed. There were several times during the runtime when I leaned over to my friend and just said, “This is beautiful.” It uses color in a masterful way, associating each location with a range of colors, giving each room its own highly specific feel. 

What stood out most, however, was the movie’s usage of lighting. There is one scene in particular which uses a lighthouse to light up a hallway in short bursts. This is perfect for the scene it’s in, as it’s able to highlight each character at a specific time, and further adds to the mystery of the whodunnit. Unfortunately, the other standout use of lighting I can’t discuss without getting into spoilers, but you will know it when you see it.      

One of the most interesting points of discussion surrounding Glass Onion is its status as a Netflix Original movie. Between the release of the first and second Knives Out film, Netflix acquired the property. Most Netflix Original movies get no theatrical release at all, but in a testing of the waters, Netflix decided to give the movie a limited one-week run in theaters before its full release on Netflix in late December. The movie performed exceptionally well, despite only being available in select theaters, with experts predicting the movie could’ve easily made at least a 20 million dollar profit if a full theatrical release had occurred. Due to the success of the limited edition run, there have been discussions around bringing the movie back to theaters before the movie releases on the service. In the wake of this success, Netflix recently announced that the third film in the Knives Out series has been greenlit, with the full creative team returning.       

Despite my high expectations, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery was successful in creating a thoroughly enjoyable experience, one that lived up to the high bar of quality set by the first film. I’m very excited to see where the series goes from here, and can’t wait to see Rian Johnson’s next entry in the Knives Out franchise.